We Have a Winner! Its Name is Veneer.

I am currently taking suggestions for the first book that I’ll read, curled up and basking in the sunlight of the bedroom turret. Because – FINALLY – I can see light at the end of the tunnel.

It is a long tunnel. But there is light. Thanks to veneer.

I’m going to tell that story in a moment! But I also have to share a super fun interview that Elizabeth Finkelstein from Circa did with me last month. If you want to hear how unbelievably chatty I can be about our house, please enjoy. I talk a lot. Like, so much. But there are some great pictures and it’s really a fun look at how we came to be where we are. Also, I get to give a shoutout to Ross and his amazing house, so make sure you read his blog, and also hang out on Circa. Because there is A LOT of eye candy.

If you didn’t read the steambox saga, you can read those HERE and HERE. The steam box, along with some kerfing, gave a great curve to the decorative cap for the baseboards.

When we got to doing the flat base part of the baseboard, the plan initially was to kerf it. The rest of the room is done with 1×8 pine, so we wanted to recreate that.

You can see the board naturally bowing after the kerfing is done!

When we kerfed it, well, it just didn’t work. It was more dented than curved. Not so awesome.

Doug decided to look at doing a veneer, which, to be honest, I wish we had just done to begin with. Kerfing is great, especially if you want to create enough sawdust to make snow angels, but the angle of the turret really is too much. Doug did his research, and said once he ordered it, we’d be about a week to getting to put it in. Which, is good, because that gave me enough time to get as frustrated with the process as I wanted to, then time to cool down, then time to get excited about the new path we’re trying.

We ordered Clear White Pine Veneer from WiseWood Veneer, whose website has a veneered set of drums on the scroll of the front page of their website. As a band director, this automatically endears them to me, AND makes me want to redo all the marching drums at my school. You know – in my spare time. (Dramatic Pause for Laughter.)

It shows up in this box that doesn’t look big enough, so of course, I film opening it. Because I think this is exciting. At least, I’m hoping it is, and that it doesn’t become yet another blog post in the ongoing series, “Vicacious Victorian: The Ways We Went Wrong.”

So cool. The green dots on the back are the backing for the adhesive. It’s sticky!

Doug chose the clear white pine, because on the website, it looked like it was the closest to matching the wood in the room.

Veneer on the left, and the woodgrain we were trying to match on the right. Pretty dang close.

While we let it sit out to acclimate to the house and uncurl, Doug began to build up the baseboard to get the veneer to the right thickness. He used small blocks that he cut from 3/4″ MDF sheets and nailed those in.

Then, he used 1/8″ MDF (which is super flexible) to make the first layer of depth for the baseboard. 1/8″ MDF is pretty great. I’ve used it to make new backings for picture frames, when the backed have crumbled or been damaged. It’s super handy to have around.

Just having this much done made me so happy. And optimistic that the veneer was going to work.

MDF Blocks and Sheets in place! And my cute bedside fan, which is drying some last minute plasterwork that needed evening out.

Please don’t be horrified at the following pictures. I know – we’re trimming wood on the beautiful dining room table. It’s fine. I promise. We needed a space that large, and we had a sheet of MDF underneath to protect the table, and I PROMISE it didn’t get hurt. I’m actually way more concerned about my judgement looking at the pictures, then I was when this was being cut. But it’s all fine. I promise. (Maybe the first book I read in the turret should be “Don’t Use Your Dining Room Table as a Workbench.”)

Pencil, Blade, and a Straight Edge.

Boom.

And on it went! The hardest part was making sure it was in the right place. Because that glue is not playing. You are not going to be able to shift it 1/100″ if you had to.

Once the veneer was on, you took a board, and smoothed it down with some gentle pressure.

OMGSOEXCITED.

This adhesive. Wow.

So then, Doug cut little baby strips of veneer to build back just a bit to make a place for the decorative cap to go on. We only have about a dozen of these baby clips, so this is going in stages. These clips are the CUTEST THINGS EVER (my feet for scale). I bought them years ago, because I’ll often wander around Lowe’s looking for the smallest and probably least useful things ever that can fit into Christmas Stockings for Doug. They’ve waited their whole life for this moment.

Once this process is done, the cap can go on, and the shoe moulding at the bottom, and then I can STAIN!!!!

Two other great things worth mentioning : the new baseboard has been added to the wardrobe! The stain isn’t a perfect match, but that’s okay. I think when it’s all done, you won’t notice. But as someone who prides myself on being able to match old stain super well – it’s not my best work. It also still needs the shoe moulding. If you remember from the wardrobe build, the original baseboards are FULLY INTACT behind and under the cabinets, in case someone chooses to remove the storage and revert the room to its original state. The new baseboards are a simple addition to make the wardrobe appear as though it has lived there forever.

The second thing of note? It’s SPRING! I love all the seasons (Winter is my favorite), but I’m always ready for each season when it’s time for it. I love living in the Midwest for that reason. We’ve just had some lovely days.

What a great idea and it looks fantastic! Can’t wait to see it all stained and shiny. We have curved floor to ceiling bays in the front and back of our house but they were trimmed using straight lines and lumber. Part of me is thankful as it makes restoring missing and damages sections easier, but the other part of me envies those gorgeous curves!